Tech investors continue to pursue innovative manufacturing solutions, with Freeform securing a significant $67 million in Series B funding aimed at enhancing its Laser AI production capabilities.
Key stakeholders in this financing round include Apandion, AE Ventures, Founders Fund, Linse Capital, Nvidia’s NVentures, Threshold Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures. Although the exact post-financing valuation remains undisclosed, Pitchbook estimates it to be around $179 million.
Freeform’s CEO and co-founder, Erik Palitsch, indicated that this financial boost will facilitate the evolution of their current GoldenEye printing system, which employs 18 lasers to create precision metal components. The upcoming version, named Skyfall, aims to revolutionize production by utilizing hundreds of lasers to manufacture thousands of kilograms of metal parts daily.
This initiative stems from a vision Palitsch and co-founder, Thomas Ronacher, conceived in 2018. Their prior collaboration at SpaceX highlighted the inefficiencies and high costs associated with existing industrial machines for metal component printing. Their goal is to build a versatile platform optimized for high throughput, focusing on sophisticated software controls. Notably, Palitsch emphasized Freeform’s “AI native” platform, empowered by a strategic partnership with Nvidia, granting access to cutting-edge GPUs.
Utilizing data from sensors embedded in their manufacturing systems, Freeform is poised to enhance production quality and scalability swiftly. Cameron Kay, head of talent at Freeform, noted, “We have more meaningful data on the physics of the metal-printing process than any company in the world.”
Although specific customer details are not publicly available, Palitsch confirmed that Freeform is already supplying hundreds of critical parts to a variety of clients. Looking ahead, the company plans to expand its workforce by hiring up to 100 new employees and enlarging its facilities to address a backlog of contractual obligations.
As the manufacturing-as-a-service sector continues to gain momentum, venture capital interest is focusing on innovative solutions for vehicles, robotics, and energy production systems. Companies like Hadrian have recently achieved valuations as high as $1.6 billion while automating production for the defense sector, alongside VulcanForms and Divergent, which have secured substantial funding for their metal-printing innovations.
